This invention relates generally to an electrical connector for engaging an electrode and, more particularly, to a medical terminal clip for use with instruments such as medical monitoring instruments, or the like.
Electrical connectors are known for making connections between anatomical body electrodes of conventional types and an electrical monitoring machine such as an electrocardiograph machine. Such connectors are often in the form of a terminal clip which includes a terminal body member having a pair of generally side-by-side arms movable toward and away from each other. Each arm has one end fixed to electrical contact means for engaging a body electrode. The contact means often is embedded within the terminal body member which may be integrally molded of plastic material. A lead wire is terminated to the contact means, usually within the terminal body member, and extends from the free end of one of the movable arms to the electrocardiograph. A plurality of electrodes, and a resulting plurality of terminal clips, are used in certain medical analysis and are applied to common anatomical positions such as the arms, legs and particular torso areas of a patient.
One of the problems with terminal clips and lead wires of the character described is that the clips and wires tend to become tangled with each other. This is often due to the projection of the free end of the clip arm which does not contain the lead wire. The entanglement of the clips and wires may cause breaks in the electrical connections and also makes attachment and detachment of the clips with the electrodes difficult.
Some prior attempts to solve the entanglement problem are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,040,697 and 4,178,052 wherein anti-tangle webs are molded integrally with and extend between the clip arms generally at the free ends thereof. Another solution is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,388 wherein an anti-snag device is shown in the form of an elongated tube having one end slid over the free end of one clip arm and the other end engaging the lead wire at a point removed from the free end of the other arm.
The present invention is directed to providing a terminal clip of the character described with an anti-tangle device which is inexpensive, reliable and provides bend relief for the lead wire extending from the clip to a monitoring instrument or machine.